Thematic Accelerators

UN Secretary-General Press Release

Bejing/November 10 2014 - Following is the text of UN Secretary—General Ban Ki—moon’s video message to the Global Efficient Lighting Forum, in Beijing on 10 November:

Excellencies, Representatives of government, the private sector, civil society and international agencies, ladies and gentlemen,

I applaud you for convening this Global Forum on Efficient Lighting. Efficient lighting can help address climate change — the defining issue of our time.

Leaders must set the world on course to limit global warming below 2 degrees [Celsius]. Efficient lighting can help. With more efficient lights, we can reduce greenhouse gas emissions and even provide light for people who have no electricity.

At the recent Climate Summit in New York, we launched a Global Energy Efficiency Accelerator Platform to help double the global rate of improvement in energy efficiency.

The transition to efficient lighting has started — but there are still vast untapped opportunities ahead. I count on your leadership to show that efficient lighting is reliable, affordable and sustainable.

This Forum can shine as a beacon for negotiators as they develop a meaningful, universal climate agreement that countries will adopt next year. That will steer us all to a brighter future. Thank you.